Man charged with murder allegedly made ‘gun gesture’ in surveillance footage
A Kansas City man accused of fatally shooting a woman in an alleyway early Sunday is facing a second-degree murder charge, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Kansas City Police Department opened a homicide investigation Tuesday after Kyrstin Lickhart, 27, died of her injuries.
Dante Williams, 22, faces one count each of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Lickhart’s death, according to a criminal complaint filed in Jackson County.
Kansas City police were called to the area of 26th Street and Prospect Avenue, near the police station, shortly after midnight Sunday, according to a probable cause statement in support of Williams’ arrest.
There, officers found Lickhart in an alleyway near a gas station; she had been shot in the head, the statement said. She was taken to a hospital, where she died two days later.
According to the probable cause statement, surveillance footage showed that Lickhart and Williams had met at the gas station before walking north on Prospect Avenue, toward East 26th Street, around 10 p.m.
Investigators were able to identify Williams through biometric analysis taken from a screenshot of the video, the statement said. An address associated with Williams is a nine-minute walk from the area.
A witness near the crime scene told detectives she heard two gunshots at 10:18 p.m., the statement said. Surveillance footage taken on Prospect Avenue allegedly shows Williams running in the area shortly afterward, and discarding a pair of gloves in an alleyway.
Williams then re-entered the gas station, where footage showed him shaking his hand before wiping it on a newspaper, according to the statement.
An employee at the gas station told investigators Williams said he had cut his hand. The clerk gave Williams two bandages before he left the again, according to the court document.
Outside, Williams can be seen interacting with another man, during which he motioned toward the alley several times and appeared to make a “gun gesture” with his hand, the statement said.
Officers said they saw Williams in the area when they were collecting video footage, the statement said. During an interaction with Williams, detectives collected a handgun and a cellphone.
Investigators asked Williams if he would be willing to go to the police station to provide a statement. He agreed, the statement said.
He told officers that while he was at the gas station, he met two women who then agreed to meet him at his residence later that night for a sexual encounter, the court document said.
Investigators believed Williams was lying, and read him his Miranda rights, according to the probable cause statement.
Williams continued, reportedly telling detectives that he believed the women were prostitutes, the statement said. As he was walking away from the station, he said, Lickhart “kind of” walked with him, but that he didn’t want her to.
A woman nicknamed “Grandma” shooed Lickhart away from him, Williams reportedly told investigators.
Williams initially told investigators that he never returned to the gas station that evening, the document alleged, later stating that he had.
When officers indicated that Williams’ statement did not match surveillance footage, he asked for a lawyer, according to the statement. Bullets from Williams’ gun matched those found in the alley.
Williams is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $100,000 cash-only bond, according to the jail’s inmate listing.
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 10:34 PM.
